Death toll from a major earthquake in western China on Monday afternoon has risen to 15 with another 10 people in the northwestern Gansu Province being confirmed dead.

A spokesman with the Gansu Provincial Department of Civil Affairs said 10 people in Pingliang and Longnan were killed by collapsed buildings and another 14 seriously injured.

Previous reports said four students in Chongqing and one person in Sichuan died.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2008)